GUWAHATI — The legal proceedings surrounding the death of Assamese music legend Zubeen Garg escalated significantly on Tuesday, as a Special Fast-Track Court in Guwahati officially leveled criminal charges against all seven accused individuals. The suspects face prosecution under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), with several facing primary counts of culpable homicide amounting to murder.
Presiding Judge Sharmila Bhuyan—who was designated by the Gauhati High Court to oversee the daily hearings—issued the mandate, effectively pushing one of the state’s most culturally and politically sensitive cases into its next critical phase.
Defense Pleas Dismissed as Trial Officially Begins
The court decisively threw out requests for discharge submitted by the defense, determining that the prosecution had presented more than enough prima facie evidence to warrant a full criminal trial.
By formalizing these charges, the judiciary has cleared the path for an exhaustive legal battle. Moving forward, the state’s prosecution team will begin summoning witnesses and introducing the massive cache of forensic and digital evidence gathered during the initial inquiry.
Breakdown of the 3,500-Page Chargesheet
The prosecution’s case relies heavily on an exhaustive investigation by an Assam CID Special Investigation Team (SIT), which culminated in a nearly 3,500-page final report detailing the roles of the seven accused:
- Murder Charges: Festival coordinator Shyamkanu Mahanta, singer-manager Siddharth Sharma, Amritprava Mahanta, and session musician Shekhar Jyoti Goswami have all been formally charged under murder-related sections of the BNS.
- Conspiracy & Trust Breaches: The remaining three co-accused face varying charges, including criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, and culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The Discrepancy Between Assam and Singapore Findings
The upcoming trial is expected to face intense international scrutiny due to two radically conflicting official narratives regarding how the singer died in Singapore on September 19, 2025, during the North East India Festival:
- The Singapore Inquiry: In March 2026, a Singaporean coroner’s court concluded its investigation, officially ruling Garg’s death an accidental drowning with zero indicators of criminal foul play.
- The Assam CID Investigation: Triggered by immense public grief and suspicion at home, the Assam government demanded a parallel inquiry. State investigators claim to have uncovered suspicious circumstances that strongly contradict the accidental drowning theory.
Public and political pressure on the case remains exceptionally high, particularly after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma openly declared the singer’s passing as a “plain and simple murder” on the assembly floor, prompting the state to successfully petition for day-to-day fast-track hearings.
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